Costa Mesa council may extend permit for radio-controlled aircraft aficionados to continue flying at Fairview Park

The Costa Mesa City Council will consider extending a permit Tuesday for a group of radio-controlled model aircraft aficionados to continue flying at Fairview Park.

The Harbor Soaring Society needs formal permission to operate in Fairview — specifically, in a swath of the 208-acre park’s southwest quadrant. Should the council approve the extension, the club’s permit would run through June 30, 2020.

While the city last approved a five-year permit in 2014 — and has had a formal agreement with the club since 1996 — the Harbor Soaring Society has had a presence in the Fairview area since the 1960s, long before the city purchased the park from Orange County.

According to a staff report, the council also may give direction to study “the value of the partnership” between the Harbor Soaring Society and the city and to “assess the compatibility of all flying activity” with the park’s master plan and Measure AA — which requires public approval of changes that could alter Fairview’s open, passive nature.

Local voters passed Measure AA in 2016.

The Fairview Park fly field is the only approved public location to fly radio-controlled airplanes in Costa Mesa.

City officials issued 227 permits in 2018 for people to fly radio-controlled model aircraft. Society membership is not required to fly at Fairview Park.

Tuesday’s council meeting starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.

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